BARF Feeding

We are always being asked what do we feed our dogs, how much, how often, how to tell if your dog is underweight, overweight.

There is no real set in stone rule to feeding dogs, every dog is different so the diet may need to be adjusted for individuals within one household, similar to the way humans eat. One person can eat a entire cake daily and not put on weight, another person has to just think about eating the cake and a couple of kilos are gained!

We feed a complete BARF (Bones and Raw Food) diet here. Even when away for shows, our dogs still receive the Raw food, just means another esky full of chicken frames for them.

Below is what we feed typically for a week for an Adult Amstaff. Our Staffords would receive approx. half of this diet.

Day

Morning

Afternoon

Monday

Brisket Bone

250g Composite Red Mince

Tuesday

Nil

Chicken Frame

Wednesday

Brisket Bone

250g Composite Red Mince

Thursday

Nil

Chicken Frame

Friday

Brisket Bone

250g Composite Red Mince

Saturday

Nil

Chicken Frame

Sunday

Nil

Chicken Frame

We source all of our dogs food from Canine Country. I have been using them for approx. 10 yrs. The Composite Red mince we feed is made up of the following:

Canine Country have a large range of BARF diets, to suit all types of dogs, even a feline BARF which our cats absolutely love. They have stockists throughout Qld, NSW and VIC. www.caninecountry.com.au

The main thing you need to remember when feeding is, if you are seeing every rib or backbone on your dog, increase their intake, double the mince, or chicken frames. If you are unable to see the last rib or a good tuck in the waistline, reduce, half a chicken frame, 150g mince etc. Remove the brisket bone once or twice a week in the morning.

Below are photos of our dogs at various weights, what I consider to be healthy and what I consider to be overweight.

The Good

Staffwild All The Aces ~ 5yr old Amstaff Bitch. I consider this girl to be at a beautiful weight in this photo. The rib cage is visible, but you cannot see every individual rib or any backbone, lovely tuck at the waistline.

Aust Ch. Havfun Bad Habit ~ in this photo he was approx . 3yr old. Again, no individual ribs showing, however you can see the outline of the ribcage and the tuck in the waistline.

The Bad

Staffwild Holierthanthou ~ 7yr old Amstaff Desexed Bitch ~ Overweight, way overweight. Holly's new owner was being a little too loving, this weight puts undue stress on their joints, heart and overall health, it is a quick way to kill them with kindness. You can just see Staffwild Mastaofpuppets in the background, he was the same. These two dogs went from one extreme to another. The 2nd photo of them below was taken approx. 12mths earlier when I took them back from an their owner who believed they were in good fit weight!